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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Thought you found out everything you could ever possibly need to know about new Toshiba tablets with the announcement of the Excite X10? Think again, sucka. Toshiba showed off two new prototypes on the showroom floor alongside the recently announced 10-incher. The devices are both in the too-early-to-be-named stage right now, so let's just call them the 13- and 7.7-inch tablets. In fact, that company isn't even sure it's actually going to bring either to market at any point -- according to a spokesperson, the Toshiba just brought them along to the show to gauge crowd interest in the form factors.

Unfortunately, this being so early in the development process, the company didn't have many on hand. The two we spent time with wouldn't actually power on, though we were able to peep powered on units, though, sadly, they was hanging out behind pieces of glass. But even from that vantage point, the display on the 7.7 was a thing to behold, a really gorgeous AMOLED panel.

The device is a nice size, as well -- it's extremely thin, with rounded corners and a border running around the entire perimeter, pressing up against the slightly convex textured aluminum rear. A small back facing cam sits on the top. Two small speaker grills sit on the bottom of the device, with a SD slot and microUSB port on one of the sides. It's really a terrific industrial design -- this is what those Thrive tablets should have looked like. We asked a Toshiba representative whether the bulky Thrives could peacefully co-exist with this kind of design, and he told us that it can indeed, as more of a budget alternative to these high end devices.

The 13-inch tablet features a similar design, albeit much larger. Like the 7.7, it feels relatively light for its size, but there's just no way to hold a tablet that size in one hand. It really is extremely thin for a tablet of that size, as well. The company tells us that the slate it is intended for families, and really, at this size, it does feel a bit like a small TV. Check out a video of the devices after the break.